Blog: Sapim CX-Ray Spokes

A trend I’ve been watching is direct sales of carbon rims from China. It’s an idea with pros and cons. The main pro is price. When you buy direct you are effectively a wholesale customer; they offer no better terms for dealers. You have probably seen them on small brand wheels, which are often based on this idea — just add logos, the promise of testing and a little markup. If you purchase rims China direct, I can get them built. If you want to talk about the idea, get in touch.

These rims were supplied by the rider. Weight is the focus with a Tune King 15 front hub, DT Swiss 240S rear and CX-Ray spokes. Total wheelset weight is 1470 grams (29er, 32h). Wow!

Since launch I have focused on being a service provider. I have been supplying really nice products but only for sale in conjunction with services. The odd exception has been spokes. Folks from across Canada and even out of province shops have contacted me to source a spoke or two. It’s hard to say no to small requests when people have tried several avenues before reaching out to you.

Lately I’ve been chatting up quality shops to understand modern spoke availability. I got the message that high volume shops aren’t building wheels often and poor spoke supply is collateral damage (which, in turn, makes me worry about the state of wheelbuilding skills). Compared to other shop services, wheelbuilding is low margin so none of this is surprising.

Therefore I’m announcing spokes for retail sale in any quantity because it’s important for the community. It doesn’t matter if you’re a home mechanic or a bike shop. At the moment I have straight gauge, butted and light butted spokes in stock in all lengths, silver and black. Aero spokes require extra lead time. See my spokes page for pricing. Shipping on spokes is a flat rate of $10 for any quantity of spokes shipped anywhere in Canada. Add GST but not PST/HST.

These are 24h HED Belgium rims laced to DT Swiss 240S front and PowerTap G3 rear hubs. With a 24h PowerTap you would be correct if you guessed the rider is a super lightweight.

As usual the rider supplied the power meter. For the record I have explored offering PowerTap products but access is locked up in a fearful distribution model. The result is people acquire their PowerTaps from online discounters and that works fine too. Inquire for advice.

Voilà a PowerTap G3 wheelset I built with Pacenti SL23 rims and Sapim CX-Ray spokes. The front hub is the understated Alchemy ELF. PowerTap hub prices have dropped lately, making the acclaimed power system accessible to a lot more folks. This is a nice build that doesn’t break the bank.